The Spire. Pancakes & Pajamas. Welcome new members WOODMONT CHRISTIAN CHURCH JUNE SEPTEMBER 5, , Sunday, September 9

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1 The Spire WOODMONT CHRISTIAN CHURCH JUNE SEPTEMBER 5, , 2018 PHOTO BY R.W. GROOM Pancakes & Pajamas Sunday, September 9 PHOTOS BY STEVE LOWRY Welcome new members TEDDY & TAMMY MORGAN WITH LILY AND LIZA BEN AND LESLI HALL WITH HENRY AND LIAM JEFF AND CHRISSY JENKINS WITH AVERY AND BEAU

2 OCTOBER EVENTS AT WOODMONT Embracing Courage to Live an Undivided Life one-day retreat at Woodmont s Center for Healing & Spirituality In a fast-paced and distracting culture, it is easy to be divided from our inner truths and values. This retreat will offer a space to reflect on issues of identity, encouraging you to let go of the past and to embrace what is to come with new eyes. Led by Dane Anthony, the Director of Spiritual Formation for Sage Hill Counseling, the retreat will be from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Oct. 12 at Woodmont s new Center for Healing and Spirituality. Only 15 people will be admitted, and the reservation deadline is Oct. 8. The course costs $150 per person, which includes lunch. If you register by Sept. 21, the price will be $135. To reserve your space, dane@soulprint.org. MINISTERIAL STAFF Dr. Clay Stauffer, Senior Minister Dr. C. Roy Stauffer Minister of Adult Education & Church Life Rev. Justin Gung Minister of Children & Congregational Care Rev. Chris Cox Minister of Youth & Their Families Dr. Donovan McAbee Minister of Spiritual Formation Farrell Mason Minister of Family Life & Pastoral Care Dr. Ben Curtis Spiritual Director in Residence PROGRAM STAFF Michael Graham Music Ministry Director Abby McLean Children s Ministry Director Katie Sheridan-Gossage Assistant Youth Ministry Director Andra Moran Creative Director, The Bridge Stephen Daniel King Worship Leader, The Bridge Lauren Lucas Beuerlein Young Professionals & Couples Director Steve LaForge Missions Field Coordinator SUPPORT STAFF Chris Beck Business Administrator Martha Duff Preschool Director Sam Marsh Property & Facilities Manager Jan Anderson Administrative Assistant Amber Moss Executive Assistant Anne-Marie Farmer Small Groups & Connections Director Matt Diffenderfer Communications Director Being Christian in an Election Year congregational breakfast is Saturday, Oct. 6, with Dr. Allen Hilton During an election season, tensions rise in a family, neighborhood, church, city, and nation. We all need strategies that bring us together across our differences. Join us on Oct. 6 at 9:00 AM for a congregational breakfast, where Dr. Allen Hilton will deliver a message on finding unity during the election and how to make our differences an asset rather than a threat. Hilton is the Executive Director of House United, a non-profit initiative he has built to bring people together across political and theological difference. A special session with the elders and board will follow the breakfast at 11:00 AM. Hilton will preach with Clay the following day, Oct. 7, at the Sunday service. For the most up-to-date information, download Woodmont s Realm church directory app. Search for Realm Connect in itunes & Google Play. Woodmont Christian Church 3601 Hillsboro Pike Nashville, Tennessee pg 2

3 Building for our Future by Clay Stauffer SPIRITUAL FORMATION For over five years, the leadership of Woodmont has been visioning and brainstorming for the future. This has involved multiple boards, visioning committees, and strategic planning initiatives. Our church has grown and continues to have significant energy and momentum. Now is the time for us to step boldly into the next chapter with faith and excitement. In the coming weeks, we will be entering a fall capital campaign called Building for Our Future that coincides with our core vision areas. This will include a goal of building additional children s classrooms on the south end to alleviate Sunday School overcrowding; building a multi-use chapel for worship, smaller weddings, funerals, speakers, and special events; and creating a missional café at South Hall. We already have significant commitments from lead donors and long-time members. Lots of detailed information and drawings will be coming out in the coming weeks as well as small group opportunities for all members to find out more about what we are proposing. Here are the core vision areas that we want to make sure remain vibrant at Woodmont: WORSHIP We will continue to offer three distinct worship styles: Informal (9:30), Contemporary (9:45 Bridge), and Traditional (11:00). Worshipping God is at the heart of faith and spiritual growth. It is where the community connects and recharges. We want to maintain excellent music and have preaching that touches head and heart. Our goal is to become a church that worships 1000 on a regular basis. This will include building a new multi-use chapel to house the Bridge, smaller weddings, funerals, speakers, and other special events. The new chapel will also free up the gym. pg 3 Spiritual formation and Christian education happen in many different ways and are different for every person. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach. We want to continuously launch small groups and life groups at Woodmont, which means finding new small group leaders will be essential. We will emphasize Bible study and Sunday School classes for all ages. We live in an age of spiritual emptiness, and the need is great. Leadership development and training will continue to be important in the future as well. Spiritual growth is an ongoing process for every person. Woodmont will continue to be a big tent church that welcomes people from different denominations, backgrounds, and politics. MISSIONS We want to continue being a missional church in everything we do. We encourage our members to use their spiritual gifts to serve the church, the community, and the world. We want every member to have a ministry. We have referred to the following ministries as The Big Six: Habitat for Humanity, Room In the Inn, The Nashville Food Project, Morgan Scott Project, Guatemala partnership, and Walk Thru Bethlehem. We recently adopted Fall-Hamilton Elementary. We want to keep these ministries strong and financially support others as well through our outreach grant program. We are planning to build a missional café at South Hall that will be a gathering place and will support mission ministries. FAMILIES We want to continue to be known as a church that nurtures all kinds of families and children. We have just expanded our preschool because of growing

4 Building for our Future by Clay Stauffer CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 demand. We will work towards building additional space on the south end for children s Sunday School classes because we have too many children crowded into classrooms. We will seek to support parents in their very challenging role and bring in parenting speakers from time to time. Marriage is challenging, especially in the midst of raising children. We want our children to transition well into our youth ministry and stay involved in their middle school and high school years. Woodmont will continue to be a church that supports the entire family. HEALING There is a lot of pain and brokenness in our world. The church must be there to help and not judge. Woodmont will continue to provide strong pastoral care for its members. We have a very large AA chapter that meets on Tuesday and Thursday nights at South Hall. We have two very large Al anon chapters Tuesday night and Saturday morning. Our Stephen Ministry Team has been phenomenal in providing oneon-one support for those going through difficult times of life. Our DivorceCare has helped many people in recent years make it through one of life s most painful transitions. We want to continue to make Woodmont a place where people can come for healing and hope when life falls apart. Jesus was in the healing business, so the church must be as well. Wednesdays at Woodmont Fellowship Dinners start back this Wednesday with a new 6:15 PM start time for classes. SEPTEMBER 12 A.J. Levine Jesus Within Judaism: Prayer, Practice, and Promise in the Sermon on the Mount SEPTEMBER 19 Clay Stauffer & John Geer Civility, Polarization, and the Fall Election SEPTEMBER 26 A.J. Levine The Book of Ruth: Immigration, Intermarriage, and Inspiration & Hunter Mobley A Christian Approach to the Enneagram HUNTER MOBLEY A CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO THE ENNEAGRAM 3-week series begins Wednesday, Sept. 26, 6:15 PM pg 4

5 Lifeblood by Justin Gung Shortly ago, in the middle of the night, I awoke with my head on the floor. My eyes could barely open, yet my ears were open and could hear my wife speaking to a operator: Please hurry. Our address is... In the afternoon of the previous day, I began passing blood. It was a sign of internal bleeding. After a while, I drove myself to the hospital for treatment, but the doctor, believing that I was in no great danger, discharged me. However, I continued to bleed, so much so that, by the middle of the night, I had lost a significant amount of blood. Sick and depleted, I passed in and out of consciousness. When the ambulance arrived at the hospital and I was wheeled into the emergency room, medical staff went to work immediately. The very same doctor who had examined me a few hours before ordered another round of tests. All the way in another room, I heard him react: Whoa! He s lost a lot of blood! The doctor had an audible reaction to my condition. Nevertheless, I continued to wait for what seemed like an eternity. Each minute felt like an hour. I was feeble and weak. At one point, I began to feel tingling in my limbs, which I did not think was a very good sign. So, at that point, I decided that I had been patient enough. I reached out my hand and took the elbow of the nurse standing beside my bed. I mustered all my strength and brought my face close to hers. Firmly, I said, I need blood. I know, she assured me sweetly. We ve ordered an I.V. for you. Minutes later, the nurse began an I.V. or an intravenous fluid drip. She hooked a bag of blood onto a stand and the contents of it began to flow into my veins. Immediately, the symptoms abated and my condition stabilized. The tingling in my limbs went away and my health began to rise. I say this without overstatement: That I.V. was my salvation. My welfare depended on the tube that went into my arm and the contents that tube delivered to my veins. That blood was precious to me. The words of the great hymn rang true: What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow! The next day, as I lay in a hospital bed, I glanced often at the I.V. running into my arm. My mind went to a verse of Scripture that I had memorized in high school: I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, he can do nothing. In John 15:5, Christ likens himself to a vine, which is the main arterial structure of a plant. Without a strong connection to the vine, branches would wither and die. They would become good for nothing more than kindling. Without a strong connection to the vine, branches would receive no nourishment and bear no fruit. In short, branches are wholly dependent on the vine for life. In the same way that I had to be connected to an I.V. in order to be healthy, branches have to be connected to the vine. A curious thing happened as I lay in the hospital the next day. As time passed, I began to feel a certain dislike for the very I.V. that had restored my health. I was annoyed by it. With various lines and tubes running in and out of me, I felt constrained. If I turned over in bed, I feared that I would tie a knot in something. I could not even go to the bathroom without ringing a nurse and asking for help. Since I feel better now, I thought, I just want to be rid of this I.V. and go home. It is a good thing that branches are not so foolish as to wish to be apart from the vine. Matthew Henry, the renowned biblical commentator, writes: Those that abide not in Christ may flourish awhile, yet in a little time wither and come to nothing. Their parts and gifts wither; their zeal and devotion wither; their hopes and comforts wither. As branches, let us not wish to be apart from the vine, for the vine feeds us and nourishes us and brings us to flourish, so long as we remain attached to him. It should be the great concern of all Christ s disciples, says Henry, to constantly keep up a dependence upon Christ and communion with him, and habitually to adhere to him. Indeed, as I recently learned again, he is our lifeblood. pg 5

6 Dinner for more than one by Andra Moran If I hadn t been sitting still, I would have missed it. We were stopped at a red light under a bridge in Chicago, and from the passenger window of the car, I saw the most remarkable thing. At the top of the scraggly grass bank, tucked snuggly under the bridge beam, was a square, wooden table for four. There was barely enough headroom to be seated because of the concrete underside of the bridge above, but there were four chairs, and a dingy, light blue bedsheet acting as a table cloth. It was hard to make out, but in the center of the table was a soda bottle holding a few wilting flowers. There was some food on the table, too a bag of chips and some wrinkly bag of Burger King. There were a few people under the bridge, some resting, and others milling around, preparing perhaps for lunch together. Someone had set the table, and it was lunch time. I thought about this so much as I sat alone having my evening meal in the window seat of my hotel. Even in our most elegant setting, when we have meals together, it s usually a little messy. Dinner for one, purchased or prepared, can be a tidy affair, but when we eat together, there is more effort in both preparation and clean up. On a practical level, there are more dishes to wash, but of course, in shared conversation, things can get messy. The communion meal is one of the tools God has given us to come back together over supper and work things out. We are people of The Table of Jesus Christ, coming together week after week to share the abundance of grace, mercy, and love that Christ lays out for us. Remember, however, that Christ does not just lay these gifts out for us, but also between us! We are called to partner together to encourage one another, to forgive one another, and to work together to set Christ s Table by extension with gifts of grace, mercy, and love that will feed the world and this is where it gets messy. A life of Table-setting means getting outside our comfort zones to both find and share God in all places, to find God in the predictable and the unexpected, in order and in chaos, in the right people and the wrong ones, too. In the fourteenth chapter of Luke, Jesus tells the story of a master who compels his servants to go out to the highways and byways and invite people to the banquet. Staring up at that table for four tucked under the highway, I couldn t help but think that I had some table setting to do, too. Calendar Sunday, September 16 9:30 a.m. Informal Worship, Sanctuary 9:45 a.m. The Bridge Worship, Drowota Hall 11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship, Sanctuary 5:30 p.m. Youth Group, Youth Wing Monday, September 17 10:00 a.m. The Baby Bunch, Nursery 3:00 p.m. Geezers, Boardroom Tuesday, September 18 9:00 a.m. Women s Prayer Group, Campbell-Stone 9:30 a.m. Women s Bible Study, Room :00 a.m. CWF Board Lunch, Bay Room 6:00 p.m. Handbells Rehearsal 6:00 p.m. Relay of Truth Bible Study, Drowota Hall Wednesday, September 19 6:15 a.m. Men s Small Group, Room 100 7:00 a.m. Original Men s Bible Study, Room 105 7:00 a.m. Younger Men s Bible Study, Boardroom 5:30 p.m. Grace Notes Rehearsal, Kids Commons 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Fellowship Dinner, D.H. 6:15 p.m. DivorceCare, The Bay Room 6:15 p.m. Holy Yoga, Room 200 6:15 p.m. Clay Stauffer and John Geer Civility, Polarization, and the Fall Election, Drowota Hall 6:30 p.m. Choir Rehearsal, Choir Room September 1-15th Birthdays: Linley Decker 9/2 Ensley McMillin 9/6 Hudsyn Waddey 9/7 Thomas Quinn 9/10 Gus Stranch 9/12 Cooper Taylor 9/14 Greyson Waller 9/15 Millie Brown 9/15 pg 6

7 Prayers for our church family: IN THE HOSPITAL: Malcolm Lewis - St. Thomas West - surgery for blockage Janice Parker s granddaughter, Charlotte Dukes - University of MS Batson Children;s Hospital Andra Moran s mother, Rev. Dr. Ruth Ann Moran - Neuro-ICU in Santa Barbara, CA Lauren Beuerlein s mother, ICU - lung surgery AUGUST 19: AUGUST 26: SEPTEMBER 2: SEPTEMBER 9: SUNDAY SCHOOL: ATTENDANCE: 1178 UPCOMING ACTIVITIES AT WOODMONT Woodmont s elders invite you for prayer on the first Sunday of each month For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. - Matthew 18:20. We believe in the power of prayer. The first Sunday of each month, the Elders gather together to pray for our church and church family from 8:30 to 9:30 in the Boardroom. If you have a special prayer request, we invite you to join us. We are here to listen to your request, and to pray with and for you. Contact your Elder or the Elder Chair Robin Heyne if you would like to meet privately (robinheyneinteriors@comcast.net or ). G.E.M.S. returns Tuesday, September 25 Experience the travel adventures of Deborah and Mike Lovett at the next G.E.M.S. meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at noon. There will be three weeks of guided tours through England and France showcasing historic architecture, works of art, and notable landmarks from the time of William the Conqueror through WWII. Reservations for G.E.M.S. can be made via the church office and are due by Friday, Sept. 21. Book Club is back After a good summer break, Woodmont s Book Club is ready to meet on Tuesday, Sept. 18, in Room 100 at 10:30 AM. Judy Davis will lead a discussion of Walter Isaacson s book, Leonardo Da Vinci. Fire drill this Sunday Woodmont s Shepherds Team is asking all Sunday School leaders, nursery workers, elders, deacons, and shepherds to attend a fire/evacuation/ lock-down training and drill scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 16, at 12:15 PM (immediately following the 11:00 AM service) OPERATING: $70,915 $19,012 $42,272 $42,687 CONTINUING CONCERNS: Pat Bell Betty Brent - Belmont Village Gayle Cherry Sara Kate and Chip Hooper Hale Hooper Sheila Mathias - Richland Place Allen McDonald David McDowell Ellen O Donnell - at home JoAnn Patterson Al Richardson Nikki Schmutz June Stewart Isse Waddey Tandy Wilson (Steve Wilson s father) - Heritage Rehab Center, Brentwood MILITARY: Dave Albritton, deployment, nephew of Dave and Pat Malone FAMILY OF MEMBERS - CONCERNS: Grady Hardin, Paul Hardin s father - Sarah Cannon Center Kasey Clymer s cousin, Christie Ricketts - radiation treatments for breast cancer Nan George s mother, Alice Simon, in rehab following shoulder replacement after a fall - in Bowling Green KY Gavin Duke s brother, Burton Duke Martha Duff s sister, Barbara Katie Vaughn - cousin of Phil Schmutz Woodmont s elders invite you to join them in prayer: - To think about whatever things are pure (Phil. 4:8) - That we strive to keep ourselves pure (I Tim. 5:22) - Remembering that wisdom from above is first pure (James 3:17) - That we seek pure hearts so we may see God (Matt. 5:8) pg 7

8 Nonprofit Org. US Postage Paid Nashville, TN Permit No.1204 Extremely FUN GAMES Amazing BALLOON ARTIST One-of-a-kind FACE PAINTING Wild TRAIN RIDES Unstoppable BOUNCE HOUSES Delectable FOOD TRUCKS And a MAGICAL MAGICIAN!